You Are Not Alone
by Lena86
Summary: Set after the events of Last of the Time Lords.
1. Chapter 1

Martha watched as the Doctor rose, the cage disintegrating in the light around him. He seemed to falter, momentarily. But surely it was enough? She'd walked the Earth for a year to make sure it was enough.

But it wasn't. It was just slightly less than enough. Then, as Martha stared, disbelieving, the door opened and gold light streamed in, bringing with it the siren song of the TARDIS. Martha forced her head to turn away from the brilliance of the almost restored Doctor and face the doors. She could see only light, hear only the song.

She turned back as the Doctor landed on the deck, moving carefully towards the Master, speaking words that for Martha were lost to the song. He was missing something important, she thought as she saw the Doctor disappear in a flash of light.

* * *

Jack ran for the TARDIS, his mind racing. The light, the song. It was the TARDIS, but there was no TARDIS. Was there? There couldn't be. He rounded the corner and saw the Toclafane surrounding the blue box.

'Can't get in. We'd get slaughtered!' One of the soldiers said.

Jack signed. 'Yeah. Happens to me a lot.' He raised his gun and fired, racing for the TARDIS.

Once inside, his heart sank. The TARDIS was still wrong. Still the Paradox Machine. _Fire_. The suggestion entered his head from somewhere else, somewhere _other_. He raised his gun anyway, firing at the console.

* * *

The Doctor ran to the Master, cradling him in his arms. At the back of her mind, Martha could feel something subtly wrong with the room. Something that had shifted. She watched the Doctor, tears streaming down her face for the pain he was in, but unable to feel anything for the Master.

As the Master took his final breath, his eyes flickered over Martha's shoulder for a moment and he looked puzzled. A fresh stab of pain caused him to wince and turn his face to the Doctor's. 'Will it stop, Doctor? The drumming. Will it stop?'

* * *

Martha walked inside the house, closing the door behind her. That had been the hardest conversation of her life. But it was over. And she could contact the Doctor if she needed to. It was only later that night, as she settled down to sleep that she realised the TARDIS had been unusually bright, unusually warm.

* * *

Jack sat in his office, staring at the drink in his hand. Okay, so he wanted to be here. But that was more of a long-term thing, right? But right now, strictly in the short-term, he wanted to be on the TARDIS.

He picked up his phone and dialled Martha's number, surprised when the Doctor answered.

'Martha's gone, Jack.'

'What do you mean gone?' Jack asked, worried that, for the Doctor, too much time had passed in the few hours since he'd left.

'Just gone home. I'm still in orbit.'

'Oh. I just wanted to ask…'

'Yes.' The Doctor said.

'If you could come get me? Just for a while, you know. A holiday?'

'I said yes, Jack.' The Doctor said. 'I'm parked on the rift.'


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor was alone. Jack had reluctantly gone to shower and see to his room before getting some long-awaited rest. He sat in the captain's seat and stared dully at the console. Turning the Master's laser screwdriver over and over in his hands. Outside, the vortex streamed past, he could feel it, hurtling over the exterior of the TARDIS.

The voice came from behind him, startling him. 'Didn't really know what to do with myself. Didn't know where to go, no sign of _you_… so I hid. Even though it was all wrong. And then I heard them calling your name. Heard it inside my head like the whole world was shouting it. So I came out to find you.'

The Doctor didn't breathe, couldn't move, terrified the slightest movement from him would shatter the illusion. He could feel the presence beside him and deliberately refused to turn to look at whatever mad vision his finally-cracked mind was presenting him with.

'I've never seen you so still.' The voice said. The Doctor was aware of the presence moving around him, standing just to the right of the console, something that should be in his line of vision but somehow wasn't.

Then she reached up and pulled the chain holding her TARDIS key over her head. His breath caught in his chest.

She stood in the light of the console and examined the key as though it were the most interesting thing she'd ever seen. 'I woke up and it was pulling away from me, glowing. Then I was here.' She finally looked up at him 'Well? Say something!'

He cleared his throat. The important thing at a time like this, he knew, was to stay utterly calm. Lest he shatter the whole of space and time. 'Here?'

"On the TARDIS. Only it was all red. Mostly red.'

'Mostly?' He asked, wondering just when his famous gob had deserted him.

She ignored him, staring it him searchingly.

'You hid? Until now?' She nodded. 'Why?'

She mumbled something unintelligible. When he stared at her for a few more moments she repeated herself. 'Wasn't sure you'd want me.'

He was never quite sure, afterwards, how he'd moved so fast, but before she could blink he was standing in front of her, so close his suit was touching the cloth of her jacket. 'Rose Tyler,' he said.

She stopped focussing on the jacket button in front of her and looked up at him. 'Yes, Doctor?'

He knew it shouldn't matter that she was standing right there, in front of him, close enough to touch. It was still wrong. And he was still him. And it was still impossible.

He knew this. He knew he should really care more about the how and the why. He really should. And he'd get right on that. Any. Minute. Course he was.

But he was the Doctor, and in this incarnation at least, he'd never been backward about coming forward. And besides, he almost never hallucinated _this_ well…

He pulled her to him, holding her in an insanely tight embrace and feeling her arms slide up the back of his jacket. He wanted desperately to believe she was here. So much. But his brain just couldn't switch off. Couldn't allow him even that much peace. He stepped back from her.

'You can't be here.'

Rose looked like he'd dealt her a physical blow. 'You don't want me?'

'No! Yes! Its not that!' He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his head. 'I told you, travel between parallel worlds is impossible.' He said, his voice low and even.

'If you don't want me then take me home, but I'm not going back _there_.' She said, glaring at him through her tears. The TARDIS lurched, throwing them against one another.

Rose pulled away from him as though he burned and the Doctor turned to the console. 'What?' he demanded, glaring up at the central column. 'We've stopped.' He turned his glare on Rose. 'How did you do that?'

'Do what? Don't blame this on me!'

'How did you get here?'

'I didn't mean to… I mean I tried to, at first, but I couldn't… ' she said, her words spilling over one another,' …and then the key… and I was here and everything was wrong.'

'I'm sorry but there's no way you were on the TARDIS while it was the Paradox machine. You wouldn't have been safe.'

'Paradox machine? That red thing?' He nodded. 'I woke up here, by the console and it was red. There was a man – that man who died…' she paused and looked at him carefully, as though checking to see if he was ok.

'You saw.' He said, flatly.

She nodded. 'I heard them shouting your name. It was so loud in here. Then the next thing I remember you were walking over to him, he was all, like, curled up. Then you were gone, and you came back and that woman shot him.'

'You don't remember leaving the TARDIS?' he asked softly. She shook her head.

'I remember… singing.' She said, and then looked puzzled that she'd said it.

The Doctor remembered the flash of gold at the edge of his vision as he tried to hold on to the Master.

…_I looked into the TARDIS, and the TARDIS looked into me…_

'Rose!' Jack strode into the console room, heading directly for Rose, but the Doctor flung out an arm.

'Can't be Rose, Jack, you _know _that. Rose is stuck on a parallel world. Pete's world.'

'She's got a TARDIS key,' Jack pointed out, his gaze directed at the chain dangling from her hand.

'Yes,' the Doctor said slowly, 'she has.'

'And there was all that light,' Jack said.

'And something stopped the TARDIS…' Unsure what prompted him to do so, the Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out the wallet containing the psychic paper. When he opened it he wasn't quite sure whether he should be surprised. Over and over again, in every language he'd ever learned, he saw the words repeated.

'Bad Wolf,' he murmured.

Rose suddenly looked very afraid. 'What does that mean?' Caught up in his own thoughts, the Doctor didn't respond. 'Doctor? Does it mean the Daleks are coming back?'

He looked up at her, his forehead creased in worry. 'I rather think it means you are. You are the Bad Wolf…'

'I create myself,' she responded, her voice distant, as though the words came from elsewhere.

Jack shared a look with the Doctor and was surprised at just how much fear he saw in his friend's eyes. And the madness dancing behind it. _He can't survive this, _Jack thought, _not this on top of everything else. He said it would have killed her. Should have killed her. _

The Doctor appeared to reach a decision. He stepped forward and rested his fingertips against her temples, his only intention to scan quickly and make sure she was still human, still Rose – whatever the psychic paper might think.

Ordinarily he would never have done this. If his mind hadn't managed to get used (too quickly) to the presence of another he could have stopped himself.

He would have remembered that he was hardly in the best mental state to go gallivanting around in someone else's brain. Least of all a human's. _This_ human's. He would have remembered that he'd never done this with her before, considering it intrusive and very, very dangerous.

As soon as the connection was made he felt himself losing control.

Everywhere he looked with his mind he could see her, feel her. He heard himself moan audibly at the sheer overwhelming _Roseness_ of her mind. Definitely Rose then. Rose-and-something-else. Mostly Rose. And then there was a light, in the corner of his mental vision.

He turned to face it, staring into it, trying to examine it. Mental version of his screwdriver'd be favourite about now. Then the light was gone. Weelllll... not _gon_e precisely... Just _behind_ him. He turned to face it again.

'Don't! It's too dangerous!' The thought echoed around her mind.

She was keeping it away from him. Somehow managing to control it. Or him. Both were impossible. Somewhere, far away, he felt his face break into a grin. But that was why he loved her, wasn't it? One of the reasons. She was brilliant.

He felt her shock reverberate around her head. _Whoops. Oh dear_.

He turned to face the light again, this time stepping toward it...

And suddenly he was in the TARDIS, across the control room from her, collapsed against a pillar.

'What was that?' Jack demanded.

'What?' He asked, still staring at Rose.

'You flew across the room'

'I'm sorry!' Rose said, stepping towards him but hesitating before she actually reached him.

'She threw me.' He stood up and looked sternly at Rose. 'You said the TARDIS key brought you here.'

She nodded. 'I woke up and it was glowing, burning hot.'

'Then what happened?' he asked softly.

'Then it was sort of… pulling. So I followed it.'

They stood in silence for a moment, watching one another warily.

'You followed it.' He repeated flatly, his tone conveying that such things were not possible and therefore couldn't have happened. 'Can I see it?' He asked eventually. When she didn't respond he stepped closer to her, very careful not to touch her and said, 'Rose?' she looked up 'Can I see it?'

Mutely, she held the key out to him, letting it dangle over his outstretched palm for a moment.

He reached into his pocket and withdrew his sonic screwdriver, using it to scan the key.

After a moment he looked up, his face blank, as though all resources had retreated in order to allow him to think clearer. 'Its not a perception filter.'

"Its just a key?' Jack said.

'Just a key?' The Doctor repeated, scandalised, his face suddenly animated. ''Course not! It's a TARDIS key! For this very TARDIS. Brilliant!' He held it up to the light. 'Weellll… not really a key as such. Part of the TARDIS. Key, TARDIS. Key, TARDIS.' He grinned at Rose, 'My TARDIS…'

'Your key,' Jack finished.

'My key,' the Doctor confirmed. 'First one I had, if you don't count the one I borrowed to get the TARDIS in the first-' He broke of as he realised they were staring at him. 'What?'

'You stole the TARDIS?' Jack said, at the exact same moment as Rose said, 'You gave me _your_ key?'

'Ohh yes!' he said, grinning again. He threw a switch and the TARDIS lurched, throwing Rose against Jack.

The Doctor frowned and glared at the console, before reaching his hand out to Rose, wiggling his fingers.

She smiled and took his hand, stepping away from Jack.

'Right, Rose Tyler, lets go and have a look at you.' Jack snorted, but the Doctor ignored him. 'Medical unit.' They walked out of the console room and the Doctor called over his shoulder to Jack, 'Keep an eye on the TARDIS.'


	3. Chapter 3

They walked to the medical unit without speaking, Rose could feel the Doctor's fingers tight around her own. Too tight, truth be told, but after the years in the parallel world, maybe it could never be too much again.

She sat on the bed in the medical bay watching him as he moved around the room. 'Doctor…' she said hesitantly. She saw him stiffen, but he kept his back to her. She went on, 'Are you okay?'

'Am I okay? He repeated. 'You were dragged across time and reality – not to mention the void - by a _key_ and you're asking if I'm okay?'

He just _knew_ she was shrugging as she said, 'Yeah.'

He turned around and smiled at her ''Course I am.' He moved over to her and jumped up on the bed beside her, fiddling with something in his hands and swinging his long legs gently. Rose looked down at his trainers.

'How did I get here?'

He didn't answer for a long moment, and when he did, his voice was low. 'The TARDIS was afraid, so very afraid, so she reached out. Couldn't find me, didn't want to – I let him steal her, let him cannibalise her. So she reached further than she should, calling for another TARDIS, probably.'

'But you said there aren't any more TARDISes,' Rose said, still watching his shoes.

'No. No more TARDISes, no more Time Lords. She found the next best thing…'

Rose looked up to find him staring at her intently. 'And what's that?'

'The Bad Wolf.'

Rose slid off the bed and turned to look at him. 'You said it was all gone. You _died_…'

'I'm sorry,' he murmured, 'I'm so sorry.'

"How am I still alive, then?'

He jumped down off the bed, misjudging the distance a bit and ending up standing too close again. 'I don't know,' he said softly.

Her jaw set. 'Look inside my head again.' He shook his head. 'I need to know if I'm going to be okay. If I'm still me,' she said.

'Rose, I… can't.'

'Can any of this fancy stuff in here tell me that?' He shook his head again. 'Then _you_ tell me! Doctor…' she trailed off, his name a plea on her lips.

Hesitantly, he raised his fingertips to her head again. For an endless moment, her mind flared gold and he was terrified. He could feel himself burning in the light. Then it receded, becoming the gentle light of the control room at night, backed by the breathy hum of the TARDIS and he could sense Rose.

His hearts lurched as he felt her tumult of feeling. Fear for him, because he looked so broken; the terror at the thought he might send her away, that she might not be herself anymore and, over and above it all, incandescent job at simply being here, with him, on the TARDIS. _Home_. He felt the word, rather than heard it.

Too late the Doctor realised he'd become so immersed in her that he'd let his guard down. Unable to stop herself, Rose Tyler surged into his mind, bringing with her the eerie light of the TARDIS' heart.

Before he could stop her she saw the events of the last year played out across his mind. Felt his dark triumph as the telepathic field restored him, lifting him off the ground. Felt the sheer agony of the Master's death. Then, because she was Rose, she reached out, twining her mind around the broken parts of his, holding him together.

Then he saw her, waking up in her… office?... the TARDIS key that she never set aside pulling away from her, towards the ceiling. The key was glowing, the light oscillating in time with the sound of the TARDIS that was still just on the edge of hearing. Rose closed her eyes for a moment, just a moment, but when they opened again they were glowing gold. Not the bright, terrifying gold he'd seen on Satellite 5, but definitely the same hue.

Then she was on the TARDIS, although it was different. Red. The Paradox Machine. Her eyes were normal now, and utterly terrified. She called out for him and he felt himself almost wanting to answer her, here and now.

Suddenly, the Paradox Machine lurched, throwing Rose against the console. _8.02am_ the Doctor thought.

Rose drew her hand away quickly, as though burned and where it had been there was a livid handprint, slowly fading away. Looking around at the suddenly terrifyingly alive machine, Rose headed away from the console room, further into the ship. He felt her fear at the difference she'd seen. No doors, just endless corridors – _like a nightmare_, she thought. Finally, there was a door, just in front of her, slightly ajar. She ran for it and it closed just as she made it through.

_That's my room!_ The Doctor thought. _You never said you were in my room!_

The very next image was of Rose waking up on his bed. She could hear them, billions of voices calling his name. It was something she could feel – a physical pull. And underneath and around the sound of his name – a countdown, making its way inexorably to zero. Dreamlike, she wandered out of the room, through the Paradox machine and out through the doors.

Winding her way through the Valiant, no one gave her a second look, she reached the flight deck and opened the doors. He could feel her burning, see the gold in her eyes. He saw himself restored, but sensed the moment that the restoration faltered. He'd been too preoccupied at the time to notice the one voice missing that he really needed to hear.

He felt Rose begin to burn, sensed the gold in her eyes. _I want you safe. My __**Doctor**__…_ The golden light flared in her mind once more.

The Doctor was dimly aware of the back of his legs hitting the bed behind him as the golden light built up in his mind. His fingers were still pressed to her temples and he found himself unable to sever the link. He sensed her reining it in, keeping it away from him and again marvelled at her control. Far away, he heard himself moan as she reached for him and pulled her self closer. Then there was nothing but the feeling of her lips against his.


End file.
